photo by: Journal-World

The west side of the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St.

The Douglas County Commission at its Wednesday meeting will continue discussions about distributing $21 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The commission began the discussion last month at a work session, during which commissioners tried to determine how they’ll handle the $77 million in informal requests for the funding from various agencies.

Commissioners’ next step will be giving feedback on a draft of the request for proposals documentation that interested agencies will need to submit to be formally considered for funding. That includes a racial equity impact analysis questionnaire, one topic the commission discussed as a priority during its previous work session.

If the commission authorizes county staff to make any changes that they discuss Wednesday, a finalized form would be released to the public during the week of March 14.

In other business, the commission will:

• Consider a site plan for Veritas Christian School, which is in the second phase of building a new campus. The school is requesting approval to add four modular classroom units, expanded parking and an onsite lagoon sanitary sewer system. A county staff report recommends commissioners approve releasing the site plan only if the school seeks Kansas Department of Transportation and Kansas Department of Health and Environment approval for some elements of the plan.

Work toward that development first began around 2019; the Journal-World last reported on the project when it was still in the planning stages. Phase one saw the school add a gymnasium, limited classrooms and a parking lot.

According to the site plan, the school currently operates on two sites, one about three miles south of Lawrence at 960 East 1296 Road and the other within city limits at 256 N. Michigan St. The plan notes that phase two of the project is intended to accommodate shifting students in seventh through 12th grade to the property south of the city. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade would remain at the Michigan Street building for the time being, but the site plan also notes that the school aims to consolidate its students at the new site in the future.

• At a study session, hear more about a text amendment adding standards and regulations for commercial or utility-scale “solar energy conversion systems,” or solar farms.

The amendment passed out of the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission last week. The work to develop those regulations began last May after Florida-based energy company NextEra Energy expressed interest in developing a 3,000-acre solar panel farm that straddles the border of Douglas and Johnson counties.

Wednesday’s study session will begin at 4 p.m., and the regular business meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. Those who attend at the courthouse will be required to wear a face mask. The meeting also will be available by Zoom. For meeting information, visit the county’s website: dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings.